Improvement in dress-elevators



UNITED STATES4 PATENT OFFICE.

. 'Y f' 'w i fyi/ A. BURDETTE SMITH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN DRESSFELEVATRS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 151,515, dated June 2, 1574; application filed April 28, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, A. BURDETTE SMITH, of the city of New York, county and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Dress-Elevators, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part thereof.

One of the chief hinderancesto the satisfactory operation of dress-elevatorsin which cords are employed that pass through eyelets or rings attached to the waistband, or a brace connected thereto, has been the binding of the cords in the eyelets or rings, or in the folds of the dress, or at sonic point over which the cords run, thereby preventing the dress, after being raised by drawing up the cords, from falling readily and quickly to its natural position when the cords are let go. A very slight hinderance to the free movements of the cords will occasion this disagreeable result. The object of my invention is to obviate this dii-liculty by so constructing the elevator and so forming and placing the eyes or rings through which the cords run that they (the cords) cannot, by the pressure of the dress or its folds or otherwise, be obstructed in their movements. l

The method by which this result is secured will clearly appear from the following description of my elevator:

I first make a suspension-brace, A, Fig. l, which may be made of two thicknesses of strong cloth, having a band, a and a', at its upper and lower edges, and, for the purpose of keeping it straight and in place when .in use, is preferably stayed with whalebones in the pockets, indicated by the dotted lines. The upper band is furnished with eyelets or rings, whereby the brace may be attached to the waistba-nd of the skirt, as seen in Fig. l. To the lower band a of the brace are attached four eyes or loops, c c c" 0". These are so formed and connected to the brace that they stand, and are held edgewise to the person and the overlying folds of the skirt. They are made of stout wire, bent so as to form a loop, through which a cord may run. One end of the wire has an eye formed on it, whereby it is attached to the lower band of the brace by means of a rivet, which passes through the said eye and the band, the eye being preferably inserted between the two thicknesses of cloth forming the band. The other end of the wire forming the loop is bent sidewise at right angles to the bend of the loop, and is hc'ld between the folds of the band, by which means the loop is secured in the position indicated-namely, edgewise to the person and thc overlying skirt-and cannot, by the pressure of the skirt upon it, be caused to change its position, and be made to lie down flat. In this position. it is evident that the cords will run freely through the loops unobstructed by the weight of the dress upon them; whereas, if, instead of loops thus constructed and arranged, simple eyelets or holes through the band, or `rin gs secured to it, were employed, the weight ot' the overlying skirt resting over and upon the eyelets or the rings, and the cord passing through them, would bind the cord in the eyelet or ring, causing so much friction that the weight of the skirt would not always and readily carry it down to its natural position. l) and b are two cords, each looped through the eye of a button, d d'. The free ends ot' each pass first through rings c c and through the eyes or loops c c c/l c, one end through cach of the loops. To each of the ends of these cords is attached a spring-clasp, ff ff ff, designed to connect with rings h It h" h that are sewed onto the under side of the skirt, one on each seam of the rear breadths. Upon each cord may be strung a large bead, t' 1l i to prevent the looped ends of the cords at the clasps from being drawn into the eyes o c c 0 when the cords are drawn up. The rings h h h 10 are sewed upon the skirt at such a distance, below the lower edge of thc brace A that, when the cords are drawn up until the beads on the cords touch the loops c c c 0', the dress will be raised to the desired height, and thus the liability of inadvertently raising the dress toohigh will be obviated. The rings e e may be secured upon the under side of the skirt at any desired point; and, for the purpose of preventing the friction or bending of the cord in them, they should be placed at about the point shown in the drawing, down four or five inches from the waist, and about on aline or a little above the lower edge of the brace A. At this point the gathers and folds of the dress at the Waist will not interfere with the movements of the cords. The upper looped ends of the Cords b b are intended to be brought around to the front of the person and pass out through eyelets in the front f the dress in convenient reach of the wearer, the buttons d df preventing them from being drawn back under the dress.

I am aware that a dress-elevator has been made and patented Consisting of a bustle haviu g eyelets or rings in its lower edge, through which cords pass, the cords running over the upper surface of the bustle and through eyelets in its waistband. I do not claim such an organization. My suspension-brace A cannot and is not designed to perform the oflice of a bustle, and the bustle, When made to serve the otlice of a brace, aud furnished with eyelets or rings, as heretofore done, is liable to all the objections, With respect to the binding of the cords in the holes or rings, and on the surface of the'bustle, which the peculiar eonstruetion and arrangement of my elevator, as herein described, are designed to obviate.

NVhat I elaim isl. A dress-elevator formed of the suspension-brace A, having the eyes or loops c e c 0 (formed and attached so that they Will maintain their position edgewise tothe person and the overlying skirt) and the cords b b', combined and operating as speeied.

2. A dress-elevator composed of the suspension-brace A, eyes or loops c o c 0', and cords b b, in combination with the rings e e', separate and detached from the said brace, as and for the purpose specified.

Vitness my hand this 24th day of April, 187 f1.

A. BURDETTE SMITH. Vitnesse-s:

B. S. CLARK, I. (l. MACKENZIE. 

